ROD MORGENSTEIN - WINGER

Alright, Folks, I know well this blog is primarly about guitars, but let me make an exception. I just conducted this interview with drummer extraordinaire Rod Morgenstein regarding the brand new Winger record, which is yet another killer effort from this band of virtuosos. Despite his busy schedule, the Berklee professor kindly answered my questions - as always!

This new record is a true candy store for Winger fans - it shows all the signature elements, from guitar heavy rockers across ballads to progressive stuff. Was it a conscious decision from the band - giving something to every fans?

I think there has always been a mix of styles in Winger’s music, even as far back as the first record. ‘Hungry’ starts with a classical string arrangement, ‘17’ has really syncopated, funky guitar riff rhythms, not to mention the 2-measure displaced, upside down drum pattern right after the guitar solo, and ‘Headed For A Heartbreak’ has the long extended guitar solo at the end followed by the all drumming over the keyboard/guitar ostinato. So, even the first record took advantage of all of our collective music backgrounds. Maybe this eclectic approach is more obvious now than in the past. But it is precisely the bringing together of all these elements into the music that we feel gives Winger our identity.

As far as Winger fans, how do you see, could the female fan of Hungry "walk hand in hand" with the much more serious music lover of the latter Winger works?

I think that part of what makes Winger’s music interesting is that it can be experienced in different ways and on different levels, depending on who the listener is. At it’s core, most of the music is straight-ahead, heavy hitting rock. But, at the same time, there are also more intricate harmonic, melodic and rhythmic elements happening at various times in the music, which musicians will find intriguing and challenging. So I really think our more recent recordings can be appreciated by the older fans including, as you say, the ‘female fan of Hungry’.

Are US fans see the band differently than the Europeans?

I think fans of rock music are, in many ways, very much alike around the globe. However, as far as Europe goes, in the 50's and 60's many American jazz musicians moved to Europe because there appeared to be more of an appreciation for jazz music there. And so, the feeling was that Europeans were more open-minded about improvisational music. So maybe in some ways, the European audience is more open to rock bands like Winger, who like to mix things up a bit and not just stay the safe course.

The new record sounds so natural. How was the recording of the drums? How were the kit setup and the mic settings?

Normally, drums are set up on the other side of the glass, securely away from the control room. This time around, we set the drums up right by the mixing console in the control room. So Kip, who produced, engineered and mixed the record, was right there 5-10 feet away from me. It made communication and ease of operation so easy. The mic’ing is always similar, with every drum having its own mic, and room mikes set up a few feet away. Kip is always experimenting with different mics, as the recording of drums is an on-going process.

Did you work out the drum tracks the same way as you used to do during the past sessions?

With every recording, I always get a few days in advance of the recording to get familiar with the songs. And it is during this time that I work out some specific groove patterns. But a lot of the drumming is left to jamming during the recording. And so, no 2 takes of a song are ever exactly alike. There is something fresh and creative by allowing some of the drumming to be happening on the spot. Sometimes, some of the best stuff happens when you are cruising on the seat of your pants.

Do you have your own method to record drum tracks in the studio?

I like to be very familiar with a song before I go into the studio to record. It enables me to come up with ideas that I think add to the process. But I also enjoy getting feedback from the producer as we're recording, because another person's perspective can trigger other interesting ideas. For example, the weird, displaced drum groove that happens right after Reb's solo in '17' from the first album, came about as a result of the producer suggesting I do something that you would never hear on a rock record.

How do you feel, is it easier to do a Winger record nowadays than in the '80s, on the peak of the band's success?

I think recording is easier now, for one reason, because Kip is a seasoned veteran engineer/producer. And everyone in the band has years of recording experience. But it is still a pain-staking, long process. Technology has made certain aspects of recording easier. But, with all of its power, it has created so many options in the recording process, that things can actually take longer to get completed.  

So far the new songs, there are straight forward rockers, like Rat Race, Queen Babylon, Midnight Driver, as well as the most progressive tunes in Winger history such as Tin Soldier and Better Days Comin'. Do you enjoy playing both way?

I love the challenge of playing all styles of music in an authentic manner, while throwing some of my individual drumming personality into the mix. And, whether a song requires a straight-ahead, basic groove like ‘Can’t Get Enuff’, or a more technically challenging song in 5/4 like ‘Tin Soldier’, the key is to take the challenge seriously in terms of bringing the song to life by creating and playing the appropriate parts for it. One of the most exciting parts of my career has been having the opportunity to play and record in so many different musical genres. The Dixie Dregs, with guitarist Steve Morse, is an instrumental rock/jazz/classical/country fusion band, The Rudess Morgenstein Project, with Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess, is a prog duo that experiments playing in time signatures of every kind, Jazz Is Dead is a jam band that allows the musicians to dig down deep and create a different performance at each gig, and The Jelly Jam, with Dream Theater bassist John Myung, and King’s X guitarist/vocalist Ty Tabor, is a vocal-oriented musician power trio. So, each of these bands is very different from one another. And I love the challenge of coming up with just the right stuff for each one. And so, in Winger, we cover a range of styles, but the challenge is the same with each song, and it is all totally enjoyable.

Which is more difficult - to play slow and simple stuff or beating complicated rhythms, odd time signatures?

This is a fantastic question, Gyorgy! This is an on-going question that musicians debate over and over. One of the most difficult transitions I went through just before I got involved with Winger in 1987, was learning to have respect for simplicity. We sometimes confuse 'simplicity' with being 'simple', 'easy', that 'anybody can do it' because it’s so simple and stupid . I was a jazz-rock-fusion musician playing complex rhythms with the DIxie Dregs

There is an exotic breakdown in So Long China, with latinesque rhythms, congas and bongos. Did you tracked that or you guys hired a percussionist?

I think the latin rhythms were programmed by Kip and John. John came up with that cool interlude section.

On Karma you got Firs Ending, an interestig piano piece played by you. Were there any thoughts to play some keys on this new record as well?

During the recording of Karma, I was taking a break from cutting drum tracks, jamming on the piano, and Kip stopped me to ask what I was playing, because he really liked it. I told him it was something I wrote, and he thought it would be cool to put it on the album. So it wasn’t anything planned, just a spur of the moment decision. Nothing like that happened this time around.

Though Winger was the most virtuosic "hair" band, with larger than life hit singles at the end of the 80s, you guys could not achieve that level of success you should have been deserved for. So can you tell me why couldn't Winger maintain its popularity (like Bon Jovi and Def Leppard did) in spite of sing along songs in radio and first class musicianship?

The answer to this is easy. Def Leppard formed in the late 70’s, and Bon Jovi came around in the early 80’s. So both bands were firmly established by the late 80’s. Winger’s first album was released in the second half of 1988. As they say, ‘hindsight is 20/20’. Nirvana hit the scene in 1991 with ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’, which ushered in the grunge music scene, which signaled the end to everything that had been happening the past few years. And so I think bands like Winger had not been around long enough, like Def Leppard and Bon Jovi, to have been firmly established by 1991.

As a Berklee professor at the school's drum faculty, how could you coordinate your campus life with touring? I ask this because Mike Mangini, for instance, had to give up teaching at Berklee for the Dream Theater gig...

In my 17 years teaching at Berklee, I have missed as many as 5 weeks in a 15 week semester. But most of the touring I have done since the year-long Winger tours of the late 80's / early 90's are short one, two, or three week runs. And so, this enables me to keep up the teaching schedule at the college. As far as Mike Mangini's situation goes, Dream Theater will do tour runs that can sometimes last six, seven. or eight  weeks, which would make it virtually impossible for him to meet the daily teaching requirements of Berklee or any college.

Finally, could you please tell me what's the best thing regarding playing in Winger?

Aside from the immense respect I have for John, Reb, and Kip’s talent, the friendships in Winger run quite deep, and I always look forward to hanging with the guys, whether in the studio or on tour somewhere around the world. There is something to be said about being in a band with people whose company you enjoy. Within minutes of being together, it’s like being a teenager all over again. And there is certainly nothing wrong with that!

http://www.wingertheband.com

http://www.rodmorgenstein.com

http://www.berklee.edu/people/rod-morgenstein